Denialism Research Articles

The Motivational Processes of Sense-Making

In this chapter we discuss the psychological function of “the drive for sense-making,” or our innate desire to make sense of the world. We start by discussing why sense-making generates a drive, similar to those associated with the primary reinforcers of food, water, sleep, sex, shelter, and air. In our account, the drive for sense-making fills a critical gap in purely goal-oriented cognition by motivating us to continue investing in knowledge even when we cannot foresee exactly how it will benefit us. We then examine three different factors that shape the particular form sense-making takes: (1) the practical utility of holding accurate beliefs for attaining concrete goals, (2) the motivational significance of some beliefs, which generates a desire to make sense of the world in a way that feels good, and (3) the impact of computational limitations on the sense-making process, especially our limited ability to explicitly predict what information will turn out to be useful. Finally, we turn our attention to how these factors help to explain aberrant sense-making phenomena such as conspiracy theories, science denial, and political polarization.

An Ethical Comparison of the COVID-19 National Disease Control Performance of China, Canada and the U.S. in the First Year of the Pandemic

Objective: First year government pandemic control performance is compared in China, Canada and the USA to understand the ethical bases of different population outcomes achieved. Methods: Comparative analysis of ethical underpinnings and implications of pandemic performance includes degree of authoritarian power deployed to mitigate disease spread; benefits of single payer health care; impact of socioeconomic, racial/ethnic and health care inequities; anti-government sentiment/distrust; national leadership engagement; and science denial. Results: National COVID-19 response efforts vary according to the extent to which they leveraged autocratic tactics, from China whose highly autocratic first year pandemic performance was emulated, through liberal democracies like Canada where ethical compromises were largely avoided, to the USA where federal government abandonment of public health ethics produced one of the deadliest pandemic first year performances. Conclusions: Examining the ethics of pandemic disease control practices can lessen risk of repeated pandemic performance failures, and associated avoidable morbidity/mortality in future pandemics.

Trust: The Need for Public Understanding of How Science Works.

General science literacy contributes to good public decision-making about technology and medicine. This essay explores the kinds of science literacy currently developed by public education in the United States of America. It argues that current curricula on "science as inquiry" (formerly the "nature of science") need to be brought up to date with the inclusion of discussion of social epistemological concepts such as trust and scientific authority, scientific disagreement versus science denialism, the role of ideology and bias in scientific research, and the importance of peer review and responsiveness to criticism.

Dismissing contemporary prejudice is a science denialism issue: Social psychologists should treat it that way

Dismissing contemporary prejudice is a science denialism issue: Social psychologists should treat it that way

"Crisis, Conspiracy, and Community in Evangelical Climate Denial"

Statistically speaking, American Evangelical Christians are uniquely attracted to apocalyptic conspiracy theories when it comes to the topic of climate change. Since Evangelicals constitute a powerful voting/lobbying/shopping bloc, it is worth asking why this might be the case and what (if anything) can be done about it. To this end, my study considers the relevance of two major cultural tributaries to American Evangelical pop apocalyptic culture. In the first section I consider biblical apocalyptic culture and argue that the characteristic apocalyptic promise to disclose hidden divine plans to a misunderstood but soon-tobe- vindicated elect group naturally entails conspiracy-theory thinking. I argue further that apocalyptic imagination and conspiracy-theory thinking are powerful tools for the definition of identity and community. In the second section I turn my attention to the kind of Evangelical pop apocalyptic culture that helped push climate science denial into the Christian mainstream. I argue that in pop apocalyptic productions like the influential tracts and comics of Jack T. Chick, the image of the elect as the persecuted and powerful bearers of special knowledge found a new lease on life, and continues to fascinate millions with the attractive offer of somebody special to be and somewhere special to belong. I conclude that apocalyptic questions of crisis and conspiracy have a sociological function, as means to the end of defining social identity. Understanding this concrete function of conspiracy-theory thinking in Christian apocalyptic imagination can help in assessing and addressing the troubling phenomenon of Evangelical climate denial.

Adorno and climate science denial: Lies that sound like truth

Climate science denial is serious. It facilitates political procrastination and brings us ever closer to a world beset by growing food insecurity, heatwaves, floods, storms, fires and extensive losses to biodiversity. Numerous studies have unmasked the private agendas and corporate links behind organized denial, yet the question of how deniers find traction with democratic publics has received comparatively little attention. Empirical surveys demonstrate a connection between people who are susceptible to the contrarian voices of denial and those inclined towards right-wing authoritarianism. In this essay, I bring Adorno’s mid-20th-century studies of right-wing authoritarian tendencies in American democracy to bear upon climate science denial. Adorno directs us away from a sole focus on how deniers manufacture doubt so as to give the impression that the science is not settled. He examines the ways that agitators not only spread misinformation but also foster emotional connections with people who seem to want to be conned. I locate organized denial within a strain of cultural life that Adorno describes as unserious. In late 1940s America, Adorno discerned a new shape of political subjectivity, which has become highly resonant today: a formally free individual who takes pleasure in lies that sound like truth.

‘Cornwallism’ and Arguments against Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions

Opposition against greenhouse gas emissions reductions is strong among some conservative Christian groups, especially in the United States. In this paper, we identify five scripture-based arguments against greenhouse gas mitigation put forward by a core group of Christian conservatives (‘the Cornwallists'): the anti-paganism argument, the enrichment argument, the omnipotence argument, the lack of moral relevance argument and the cost-benefit argument. We evaluate to what extent the arguments express positions that can be characterised as climate science denialist and to what degree they are consistent with support for climate adaptation. Using Stefan Rahmstorf's (2004) taxonomy of climate science denial, we conclude that the Cornwallists could be labelled climate change deniers. However, their opposition is not only based on denial of climate science but often rests on premises that render the science irrelevant, a position we term ‘relevance denialism’.

The Credibility Game

Science denial, misinformation, and science con-artists are on the rise. We are plagued by anti-vaxxers, climate change naysayers, and promoters of ineffective fad diets and medical cures. The scientifically literate citizen or consumer needs skills in differentiating good science and trustworthy sources from impostors. Here, I present a series of student-centered activities that help students inquire into the nature of credibility and the problems of expertise, mediated knowledge, and science communication. I open with a playful guessing game about “fantastic beasts” reported in the 16th century, then follow with more modern examples. I then describe a science version of “To Tell the Truth,” a reflective exercise on “Finding the Expert,” and then a student opportunity to explore deceptive strategies by trying to bluff their classmates with false news stories about science. These all develop basic concepts in science media literacy and prepare students for more serious investigation into a contemporary scientific controversy.

Is Support for Outlawing Pornography Linked with Ignorance or Denial of Science?

Despite the lack of scientific consensus on pornography’s relationship to addiction, sexual functioning, or violence, research has nevertheless documented the increasing deployment of scientific studies to argue that pornography constitutes a “public health crisis” and renew calls for sweeping anti-pornography legislation. This paradoxical situation suggests there may be a disconnect between the public’s actual scientific literacy or their willingness to acknowledge disconfirming scientific findings and their support for outlawing pornography. Data are drawn from the 2006–2014 General Social Surveys (N = 1225) which enable the use of a composite measure of Americans’ scores on a scientific knowledge test. Analyses show a modest, negative association between Americans’ scientific knowledge score and their desire to outlaw pornography. However, when questions are divided into religiously contested science questions and science questions that are not religiously contested, Americans’ scores on religiously contested scientific knowledge are the strongest (negative) predictor of support for outlawing pornography, while scores on uncontested scientific knowledge become non-significant. These findings are robust to controls for sociodemographic, political, and religious characteristics as well as different modeling strategies. Findings of this study suggest that Americans who support outlawing pornography are not necessarily ignorant of science compared with others but are far more likely to deny science that contradicts conservative cultural narratives about humans.

Метафізика душі: матеріальне та душевне

Вихідним сучасним визначенням поняття «психіка» є протиставлення її світу матеріального. Однак еволюція психологічних знань свідчить, що таке ставлення до психіки, або – душі, було не завжди: довгий шлях від древніх анімістичних поглядів, через психофізичну єдність та психофізичний антагонізм, до психофізичного паралелізму пройшла психологія у трактуванні природи психічного. В результаті «душа» перетворилася на «психіку», і цьому перетворенні втратився сакральний сенс феномену «душевність». Діалектичний підхід закріпив за психікою статус чогось протилежного матерії, що відокремило науку психологію від інших наук (крім фізіології), заперечивши використання знань з інших галузей наукового пізнання, фізики зокрема. Однак саме з цієї галузі сучасна психологія отримала такі факти, які дозволили поставити психіку в один ряд з іншими фізичними феноменами. А саме: надбання квантової фізики доводять про існування в кожної матеріальної частинки, з якої складається вся існуюча речовина, додаткового компоненту, який відповідає за створення кожного нового елементу Всесвіту. І саме цей компонент є не тільки основою еволюції в планетарному масштабі, про що передбачав французький еволюціоніст П’єр Тейяр де Шарден, саме він (компонент) визначає межу між живою та неживою матерією, між людиною та твариною. Доведення наявності інформаційно-енергетичної основи в елементарних частинках, здійснене Віктором Дмитровичем Пликіним, дозволяє визнати наявність нематеріального компоненту в матеріальній речовині, тобто – припустити присутність душі в кожному тілі. В результаті, заперечення матеріалістичної науки щодо існування ідеалістичних неділимих субстанцій із самосвідомістю терпить крах. А це означає, що в дослідженнях психіки людини треба відмовитися від застарілих фізіологізованих трактовок психічного і розширити наше розуміння «психічного» до меж всезагальності душі.

강제동원·강제노동 부정론 비판

강제동원·강제노동 부정론 비판

Weight-of-Evidence Strategies to Mitigate the Influence of Messages of Science Denialism in Public Discussions.

In mass media, the positions of science deniers and scientific-consensus advocates are repeatedly presented in a balanced manner. This false balance increases the spread of misinformation under the guise of objectivity. Weight-of-evidence strategies are an alternative, in which journalists lend weight to each position that is equivalent to the amount of evidence that supports the position. In public discussions, journalists can invite more advocates of scientific consensuses than science deniers (outnumbering) or they can employ warnings about the false-balance effect prior to the discussions (forewarning). In three pre-registered laboratory experiments, we tested the efficacy of outnumbering and forewarning as weight-of-evidence strategies to mitigate science deniers’ influence on individuals’ attitudes towards vaccination and their intention to vaccinate. We explored whether advocates’ responses to science deniers (rebuttal) and audiences’ issue involvement moderate the efficacy of these strategies. A total of N = 887 individuals indicated their attitudes towards vaccination and their intention to vaccinate before and after watching a television (TV) discussion. The presence and absence of forewarning, outnumbering and rebuttal were manipulated between subjects; participants also indicated their individual issue involvement. We obtained no evidence that outnumbering mitigates damage from denialism, even when advocates served as multiple sources. However, forewarning about the false-balance effect mitigated deniers’ negative effects. Moreover, the protective effect was independent of rebuttal and issue involvement. Thus, forewarnings can serve as an effective, economic and theory-driven strategy to counter science denialism in public discussions, at least for highly educated individuals such as university students.

An Epidemiological View of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election: COVID-19 and the Ethics of Science Denial

COVID-19 is exploiting U.S. political and cultural polarization in the first presidential election to be driven by epidemiology and public health. Medical science is on the ballot as Americans’ views on economic re-opening fracture according to party affiliation. The difference between pro aggressive versus incremental re-opening, mask wearing and social distancing is rooted in respect for, or denial of, the science of epidemiological pandemic disease control. Political leaders at multiple levels, and in particular the president, have politicized the wearing of face masks and so intentionally obscured and misinformed the public regarding the objectively and scientifically proven value of these protective measures. The presidential election rests at a fundamental level upon an individual choice of whether to accept or “believe” value-neutral, evidence-based science or an unethical decision to be swayed by political disinformation. The persistent and highly dysfunctional political and cultural polarization of the U.S. is now enabling and reinforcing the ethics of science denial, while driving the nation’s public health fate and near- to medium-term economic outcomes. However, mask wearing, social distance and sheltering are not political expressions, and the right to freedom of expression does not include behaviors that produce or could produce serious, and in the case of this pandemic, deadly impact on other citizens. One does not have the right to forms of political or other expression that kill or make ill other individuals.

Education and the New Dark Ages? Conspiracy, social media and science denial

With the increasing use of social media by many people, and where many actually get their news from social media rather than traditional media sources (newspapers, TV, and journals) amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a huge increase in the number and influence of conspiracy theories world-wide. This has meant that those who believe and follow such theories are more likely to reject official health advice and government instructions, amid science denialism, anti-scientism and a distrust of experts, as well as politicians. Despite some efforts to remove misleading information, it remains easy to find sites promoting conspiracies such as ‘5G coronavirus’ as well as hate speech. But such theories are not limited to coronavirus, and in fact many others, such as QAnon, are actively or tacitly promoted by President Trump. Noting that neither conspiracies, nor science denialism are new, we start by briefly looking at the transition from the Dark Ages to Enlightenment and the Age of Reason, noting the case of Galileo. Then it was very dangerous to hold well-reasoned scientific views that did not fit with the prevailing views of the time; a combination of philosophical, and theological Church beliefs, which were based on Aristotelian geocentric views of the earth as the centre of the universe, and a geostatic literal biblical interpretation. We look at present day scientific skepticism and how to debunk some of the most widely held scientific myths. The need to educate and advocate for education that includes critical thinking, critical literacy, and critical media literacy is more important than ever or we risk having a large proportion of the population believing only what they read on social media and becoming dangerously anti-science and not prepared to even consider data or evidence and so be at the mercy of rampant and dangerous conspiracy theories — maybe risking a ‘New Dark Ages’!

Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us

By Sara E. Gorman, Jack M. Gorman, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2017. 312 pp. $29.95. Denying to the Grave is an exploration of science denial that focuses on health, medicine, and the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms underlying how people make decisions that can affect their

Social constructionism and climate science denial

It has been much debated whether epistemic relativism in academia, for instance in the form of social constructivism, the strong programme, deconstructionism, and postmodernism, has paved the way for the recent upsurge in science denial, in particular climate science denial. In order to provide an empirical basis for this discussion, an extensive search of the social science literature was performed. It showed that in the 1990s, climate science was a popular target among academic epistemic relativists. In particular, many STS scholars used it as an allegedly clear example of claims by natural scientists that should be treated as mere social constructions, rather than as reports on the actual state of the natural world. A few connections between social constructivists and corporate science denialism were also uncovered, but the extent of such connections could not be determined. With few exceptions, the stream of criticism of climate science from academic relativists has dwindled since the 1990s. One reason for this seems to be that the contrarian position lost its attraction when it became associated with corporate and right-wing propagandists.

New Empiricisms in the Anthropocene: Thinking With Speculative Fiction About Science and Social Inquiry

Interest in new empiricisms and transdisciplinary methods has led many social inquirers to engage with 20th-century post-classical physical science. Many of these projects have focused on alternative matter–mind mixtures and in/organic variation, concerned that past theories of sociality have dismissed the vibrancy and animacy of the nonhuman material world. This paper explores the power of speculative fiction to help us rethink empiricism in posthuman ecologies of the Anthropocene, in the midst of post-truth conditions and growing science denialism. We foreground speculative fiction as a way to open up scientific imaginaries, rethinking the relationship between nature, technics, and human “sense” making. We show how such texts offer alternative images of research methods for studying pluralist ecologies and new forms of worldly belonging.

The False Logic of Science Denial.

The False Logic of Science Denial.

Governing COVID-19 without government in Brazil: Ignorance, neoliberal authoritarianism, and the collapse of public health leadership

ABSTRACT Brazil’s governance of the COVID-19 pandemic has been described as nothing short of tragic by several commentators. President Jair Bolsonaro’s dangerous brew of neoliberal authoritarianism, science denialism and ableism has plunged this country into catastrophe. In this article we argue that this form (or lack) of public health governance can best be described as governance without (central) government. We begin with an overview of public health governance in the country before introducing the main theoretical concepts that guide our analysis, namely the notions of ‘government by exception’ and ‘strategic ignorance’. Finally, we sketch the main features of this emerging form of (non)governance of COVID-19. We highlight the new forms of solidarity and mutual aid that have emerged in favelas and Indigenous communities, which have stepped in to fill the void left by a limited federal presence. The article concludes by reflecting on what this collapse of public health reveals about the limitations of democratic governance in the age of Bolsonaro.

Galileo’s story is always relevant

With science denialism stronger than ever, who better to revisit? By Alison Abbott With science denialism stronger than ever, who better to revisit? By Alison Abbott